An Encounter Under the Stars
by umbreonix
Summary: Rio finally gets the courage to ask Rod out to the Starry Night Festival and is delighted when he agrees, but what are these episodes of dizziness she keeps experiencing? Written for the Starry Night part of the 12 Days of Christmas Prompt


**Oh wow, a RodxRio. This is going into new territory for me, and finished just in time. For me anyway. You know, time zones.**

 **Sorry for the rushed job. The joys of deciding to write a starry night fic two hours before 12AM the day its due.**

"Rio, are you all right?"

Through a haze of distorted colours and mute noise, she could vaguely register those words. The world looked like it was zooming by but when everything snapped back into focus and her senses returned she could see that it was her who had moved, her hand against the door frame, hunched at the entrance to Clement's.

She blinked in confusion, warding off the last of her momentary fuzzy feeling. She pushed herself back upright and looked back at the worried reporter. "Yeah." She said. Her voice sounded still a little disembodied, like it wasn't coming from her. She shook her head, "I'm totally fine, just felt dizzy for a second." Just like that she felt fine again.

Tina grinned, "Okay great! That's good to hear! So anyway, I was talking to Allen right? Do you know what he said? Well-"

Rio let Tina go on ahead of her, chattering on about something that happened on her mail route.

 _What was that?_ Was she sick? She had never felt that before, then again, she had never built two houses and a travel agency all in two weeks time either. Was she just tired?

She felt a little better after they had ordered and started eating, she must have just been running out of stamina or something. She soon began to start listening back into Tina's monologue. The brunette was just finishing up her tale. "So then- he was like, 'If you really want to see the stars with me that badly, I suppose I could grace you with my presence.'" She mimicked the stylist's gestures, closing her eyes and placing both hands on her hips with a smug smirk.

"Wait what?" Rio asked it surprise. "You asked him out to the starry night?!"

Tina rolled her eyes, "Well yeah, that's what this whole story you weren't listening to was about."

The farmer looked away in embarrassment, "Oh, sorry, I'm just… really tired. You should have just nudged me back in if you knew I drifted off."

"No way!" Tina protested then smiled brightly, "Because now I get to tell it all over again!"

Rio couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously?" She asked incredulously, "For that reason?"

Tina shook her head, "Honestly, to think you're my best friend. You should know by now how much I love the sound of my own voice."

The two laughed. Then Tina stopped abruptly.

"What?" Asked Rio.

"Don't look now, but Rod just walked in." She responded quietly.

Naturally, Rio turned to look and Tina yanked her shoulder. "Goddess! What part of 'don't look now' don't you get? This is why I'd never take you on a stake out." The reporter frowned.

"Why would you need to have a stake out anyway? There aren't any crimes in the village." Rio noted, furrowing her brow with a good natured smile.

"A girl can dream." Tina sighed. She wasn't side-tracked for long though, "Anyway. Now's your chance! Go ask Rod to the starry night!"

"WHAT?!" Asked Rio, nearby tables turned to look.

She looked down in mortification, waiting for the eyes to lose interest. Then she turned back to Tina, and, in a little more than a whisper, "You can't just _ask_ a guy to starry night! That's something _couples_ do together!"

" _Soooo,_ I you want to _be_ a couple, ask him to starry night!" She exclaimed.

Well, she could always ask him as a friend, she supposed. Rio reluctantly stood, and walked over to where Rod sat.

"Rio!" He exclaimed. "How have you been doing?"

"Oh hey Rod…" She said. Some of the anxiety wore down. He was too friendly to feel nervous around but maybe he put her a little _too_ off guard she fret. He was nice to everyone after all, she wasn't anything particularly special to him. Though he could certainly make her feel that way.

"Um, I was just wondering…" She started, forcing herself to meet his eyes. "You wanna go to the starry night festival with me?" She inwardly sighed in relief at how casual she made it sound.

He looked a little surprised. Then he beamed, "Yeah of course! This is great, I thought I'd be spending it alone!"

Rio couldn't help but grin back, "Great! So I'll see you tonight then?"

"Definitly! Six o'clock!" He told her.

"Got it." She agreed. Her legs felt weak as she returned to Tina, but for a different reason this time.

' _He said yes'_ She mouthed and Tina clapped silently in glee for her.

They paid their bills and parted ways, Tina stopped to rather unskillfully flirt with Allen who had just entered and Rio snickered to herself. As she walked by the restaurant's front window she saw Allen join Rod, who almost jumped up to tell him something exciting. She smiled at his constant enthusiasm.

For the first time in a while all the fatigue was gone. She checked her watch almost bouncing on the spot. _Five more hours now until six_.

She took this new found energy to chopping wood. Her supplies were running low since her progress on the most recent restoration plan.

It was a couple trees in that it hit her once again, all at once. The dizziness was back full force. She dropped her axe and stumbled left. She felt like her body wasn't her own, she could barely feel herself clutch at the roots of her hair, not really remembering grabbing her head in the first place. She took a few stumbling steps, then fell flat in the snow.

The next thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital. The first thing she did was look over at the clock. It was five. She struggled to get up, she could still meet Rod.

"And where do you think you're going?" A nasally voice asked.

Rio cringed and sat fully back down, turning to the very _unhappy_ doctor.

"You fainted." Klaus said.

"Am I sick?" Asked Rio.

"In the head maybe." He snapped. "You overworked yourself."

"Oh.." She said.

"Oh?" He repeated, " 'Oh' is all you have to say?" He proceeded to spend the next ten minutes lecturing her. She nodded ruefully, occasionally glancing over at the clock.

"And WHAT do you keep checking the time for? I'll have you know that is quite rude!" He scolded mid-lecture.

"I- I was just supposed to meet someone at six for starry night. I mean, if I'm not sick then-"

"Absolutely not!" He snapped.

Rio's heart sank. He urged her to rest, practically forcing her to stay in bed and then, only when she absolutely promised not to leave, did he return upstairs.

Rio sighed, still resting in an upright position. She watched as the clock ticked, eventually it hit six. She had finally found the courage to ask Rod to go to the festival, and now for all he knew she was standing him up. She had been so excited to spend time with him. She imagined now, trecking up the mountain with him. It would be cold sure, but so exhilarating! Just him and her!

She still remembered when she first fell for him. Well, to be honest, he peeked her interest the second he moved in, what with his shining blue eyes and goofy smile but the day it all truly escalated into a 'crush' was only a couple weeks ago. She was outside heading back from the mines and he must have been taking a walk in the forest.

 _Her sack was so heavy, and it was so incredibly cold, one of those days where the air stings as you breath it in._

 _She struggled her way through the snow and before she knew it, the weight that was killing her shoulders was lessening. She glanced back in surprise, seeing Rod lifting her backpack slightly from her back._

 _"Hey Rio, that looks heavy." He said._

 _"Uh, yeah but I'll manage." She had responded._

 _"Nonsense!" he exclaimed, "let me help you! Pass me the bag."_

 _She giggled a little, "I warn you, it is 100% full of rocks."_

 _He tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"_

 _"I was just mining, I managed to pry free a lot of valuable ores!" She grinned._

 _He smiled at her. "You mine too? Oh wow Rio! You're so cool! Building houses, fishing, bug contests, farming, garden tours and now mining?! How do you do it?"_

 _She blushed. This was the most sincere compliment she had ever received. He just looked so earnest when he said it all._

 _"Pass me the pack." He said, and she complied before she even processed what he had asked. After slipping it off her shoulders and handing it to him she snapped out of it._

 _"Wait no! You don't have too!" She protested._

 _"Too late!" He said gleefully, tossing it over his own shoulder._

 _"Its so heavy though..." She said, feeling quite bad about the whole thing._

 _He laughed, "Its not too bad don't worry about it." He changed the subject, "Hey Rio, You're shivering, and your face is completely red."_

 _"Well yeah I-"_

 _"Here, one sec." He said, readjusting the backpack properly over both shoulders to free up his arms. "Luckily I had my hands in my pockets the whole time, let me warm you up!" Before she could protest, he cupped her cheeks and she felt the instant warmth. "You're cheeks were completely red!" He said. With his hands on her face she could only look at him as he grinned. At that moment she could almost fool herself into believing that that particular smile was just for her, and it was beautiful._

 _A moment later her left go. "Now come on, I'll help you carry this home."_

She had liked him since then.

He was just so honest and friendly.

She sighed, maybe someone told him she fainted. Maybe he wasn't too inconvenienced and already made other plans, went out with Neil or maybe, to Tina's mortification, tagged along with her and Allen.

She loved- uh- liked him to death but would be the first to admit he was a little dense.

 _Well._ She thought _, I can always ask him out another time._

She drifted back to sleep.

It was a loud clang that next woke her up, then a "Dang it!"

Rio's head shot towards the direction of the noise, surprised to see Rod scratching his head sheepishly. He was standing next to a little step ladder, but it was a bed pan, a little away from his feet on the ground that was the clear culprit to the noise. "I was being so quiet 'till this point too." He said in disappointment.

"Rod?" She asked. "What are you doing here?!"

He rushed over, placing a hand over her mouth. Her face burned at the contact. "Shhh!" He said. "Klaus is still upstairs! I'm sure he wants you sleeping right now!"

"So what are you doing here?" She asked.

Rod looked at her confused, "Did you forget, I told you we'd spend starry night together."

"But I promised him I'd stay in this bed." She protested.

Rod just grinned. He backed away slowly, not once looking away from her. Of course, once again he kicked the bedpan and it went toppling, making a huge amount of noise. Rod cringed, "Ah, darn it!" He looked away from her and she laughed silently, as he scratched his cheek, "That's embarrassing." He admitted.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"You'll see." He winked. He walked over too the light switch and flipped it off. It was then that she saw them, dozens of glow in the dark stars were stuck to the hospital ceiling.

"Rod!" She exclaimed.

"Shh!" He repeated and she covered her mouth. He returned, stopping at her bed side. It was dark now, and her night vision hadn't kicked in yet, she could just make out his outline. "Care to star gaze with me?" He asked, sounding almost sheepish.

"Of course! She said and shuffled over, "Here, there's room on the bed."

He crawled on and sat next to her. He was so close! To fit on the single bed, their shoulders touched.

"I can't believe you did this!" Rio exclaimed.

"Well, even if you couldn't see the real stars, I wanted to bring them to you." He said. "I know they aren't as great though. Oh Rio, if only you could see the stars outside! There's so many! They're so pretty!"

"This is so great Rod! Really!" She reassured, "For you to have done this for me.. No one's done something like this for me before, honestly, I could cry."

"Well you know if you cry you can always have my shoulder." He said.

Rio couldn't help it. She laughed.

"Hey don't laugh." He protested, "I was trying to sound cool, admittedly I need to work on that."

Rio kept laughing, "Nah Rod, you're so cool. You're the coolest person I know." She said in a moment of honestly.

"R-really?" He asked quietly.

She paused. "Of course." She said in surprise, "How could you not know that?"

"Well I mean... Nevermind." He dismissed.

She touched his shoulder, "No really, what?"

"Well, I could never hold a candle to Allen, and Neil's always so collected and cool." He said.

Rio couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Well. They have their own special traits sure, but there is no one I would rather be with then you right now." It seemed to reassure him, but to mask her embarrassment at such an open confession, she readjusted her pillows and lay down. Rio followed suit and they both gazed up at the glowing stars.

"I tried to put them in some sort of order." He said.

"That's Orion." He said pointing at one cluster, "And that's the big dipper, and the little dipper." He pointed at another. "If you kind of look at that one, it's a snake see?"

She squinted, "Oh yeah I see it." She agreed.

"That's serpens." He said.

"You know so many. Are you into stars?" She asked.

"..uh... Not really." He admitted. "I just memorized a bunch this afternoon so I could impress you when we went to see them. Though I guess that didn't work out."

She shuffled closer too him and in response he put a tentative arm behind her. "I'm always impressed by the things you do." She said. "You put up all these stars, and learned a bunch of facts to tell me. It makes me really happy. I was so nervous after I asked you! I've never done a starry night before and I couldn't wait for six! I feel so much better knowing you put this much thought into this whole thing too."

"Are you kidding?!" He asked. "I've been wanting to ask you for weeks but I never got the courage."

"Weeks?" She asked in surprise, sitting up a little.

She could see his face now but he couldn't seem to look at her, "Uh, yeah. Right." He sounded embarrassed. "We came as friends. I know that." He sat up to and buried his face in his hands, "I just said something dumb, forget it!"

"Rod..." She said.

"You're just so amazing Rio, of course with me you wouldn't... never mind it ok?" He asked.

"I like you." Rio said.

"Yeah me too." Rod nodded still looking mortified, "You're a really great friend."

"No." Said Rio. "I _like_ like you."

"What?" He asked.

She rolled her head back. "I mean, you're a guy- that I, as a girl, like. Romantically."

He was completely silent. She reached out a couple seconds later to cup his cheek. It was burning. She giggled.

"I LIKE YOU TOO!" He said suddenly.

"Shh!" She grinned, "Don't forget about Klaus."

"I really really like you Rio! In the romantic way too!" He said.

She laughed and lay back down again on her back. "Yeah, I was getting that impression."

She looked back at the ceiling, at at the stars he somehow attached without waking her up. She imagined him biting his lips on that little step ladder trying so hard not to make a single noise. All for her.

She grabbed his arm and gently tugged him back down, snuggling closely. "So why don't you tell me more about the stars?"

he eagerly complied.

* * *

The next day Klaus came down to check on his patient. Needless to say, he was surprised and a little irritated to find his ladder out, plastic stars all stuck to the ceiling and an unauthorized visitor sleeping on bed with Rio. He watched unimpressed at the two with laying there peacefully, wrapped up in each other's embrace.

He sighed, removed his glasses for a movement to clean at them and decided to go back upstairs to finish his tea. He picked up a bedpan on the floor as he left, and dropped it loudly as he headed up. It bounced down the steps with a loud bang at each impact. If the pet seller hadn't cleaned up and left by the time he returned, then and only then he was going to give them both a scolding.


End file.
